guineapikhs
Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2011
- Posts
- 49
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2011
- Messages
- 49
We live in a no-smoking, formerly no-pets home. Our female mother-and-daughter pigs are in our office (we're both grad students, so we spend a good bit of time there). My husband is pretty sensitive to smells (for example, I can only use half of a scented drier sheet on our clothes, or it's too strong of a smell for him). Ultimately, our very first priority is happy, healthy pigs. But really, the smell is driving us nuts! And with fall coming in the Midwest, we won't be able to air out the room when it gets to be too much.
I tried Uhaul pads (two layers, sewn together, with one layer of a polyester fleece on top), and the smell has been overpowering within 3 days! I just changed it this morning (put there Saturday), and the pads seemed to be soaked through, too. I alternate my Uhaul pads with towels, which actually seem to do a little better for us. But the bedding smelled, so now the pigs smell, and even my fleece forest smells (need to figure out how to wash that little bugger -- rinsed it in the tub once, but I think it's going to need more).
We sweep the poos out daily, sometimes two and three times a day, and I'm pretty obsessive about keeping old hay off the fleece (I found this fur-b-gone silicone brush that changed my life -- take off hair AND minuscule pieces of hay). We had a "kitchen" litter box for a while and got rid of it because I don't like working with the aspen chips (always manage to get dust in my eyes), but I reinstated it (at least temporarily) today. I tried using "potty pads" instead of the litter box in the corner (also made with Uhaul pads). Unfortunately, I only had one fully sewn, so I haven't been able to see what it's like when I change the potty pads out daily. The bedding pads were REALLY wet this time, so I don't know if a few potty pads will really fix the problem...although the pads are great to put the hay on and then take out to clean with my new brush!
I have enough Zorb for one layer on my 2x4 cage, and an old mattress pad for a bottom layer, but just haven't gotten around to sewing it yet -- so I'm really hoping that the Zorb will do better with the smell and my problems will be solved. In all honesty, I'm willing to make up several all-in-one pads and change out their bedding every day if that's what it takes to keep the smell where I want it -- maybe my girls are just stinky, or maybe I'm just not very smell-tolerant. But before I get that desperate, any ideas?
I tried Uhaul pads (two layers, sewn together, with one layer of a polyester fleece on top), and the smell has been overpowering within 3 days! I just changed it this morning (put there Saturday), and the pads seemed to be soaked through, too. I alternate my Uhaul pads with towels, which actually seem to do a little better for us. But the bedding smelled, so now the pigs smell, and even my fleece forest smells (need to figure out how to wash that little bugger -- rinsed it in the tub once, but I think it's going to need more).
We sweep the poos out daily, sometimes two and three times a day, and I'm pretty obsessive about keeping old hay off the fleece (I found this fur-b-gone silicone brush that changed my life -- take off hair AND minuscule pieces of hay). We had a "kitchen" litter box for a while and got rid of it because I don't like working with the aspen chips (always manage to get dust in my eyes), but I reinstated it (at least temporarily) today. I tried using "potty pads" instead of the litter box in the corner (also made with Uhaul pads). Unfortunately, I only had one fully sewn, so I haven't been able to see what it's like when I change the potty pads out daily. The bedding pads were REALLY wet this time, so I don't know if a few potty pads will really fix the problem...although the pads are great to put the hay on and then take out to clean with my new brush!
I have enough Zorb for one layer on my 2x4 cage, and an old mattress pad for a bottom layer, but just haven't gotten around to sewing it yet -- so I'm really hoping that the Zorb will do better with the smell and my problems will be solved. In all honesty, I'm willing to make up several all-in-one pads and change out their bedding every day if that's what it takes to keep the smell where I want it -- maybe my girls are just stinky, or maybe I'm just not very smell-tolerant. But before I get that desperate, any ideas?
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